In sailing and boating there is a requirement that lines be easily coiled and stowed, while at the same time being ready for use at a moment's notice. Especially in sailing, where a main halyard is utilized to raise and lower the main sail, in emergency conditions, it is exceedingly important to be able to release the main halyard, which is usually coiled and looped over a fixed cleat on the mast. Such an arrangement oftentimes precludes quick release of the halyard as the halyard can become tangled, with the result that the halyard jams and the main sail cannot be brought down. Were the line to be quickly releasable, the prescribed operation requires simply dropping the line to the deck where it can pay up the mast as the sail comes down.
Additionally, the securing the halyard to the mast usually entails coiling the line or the halyard and then securing the loops only at the top to the fixed cleat. In heavy seas, the coiled line can flap around, with the halyard eventually becoming dislodged from its position over the fixed cleat.
Jib sheets on the other hand are often difficult to store after the jib or foresail is properly adjusted and cleated off. The storage of jib sheets is a problem due to the large amount of line which is required for the sheet. Typically these sheets are simply dropped in the cockpit or stowed in some other indiscriminate fashion. Obviously in order to be able to trim the sheets or release them, it is important that whatever storage device is provided, the line must be accessible immediately so as to be able to readjust the sheet or, in fact, cast it off.
Likewise, for anchor line, storage of the anchor line on deck is always a problem, necessitating traditional anchor lockers. It is not always convenient to provide anchor lockers for the anchor line and rope, and it is therefore important to be able to coil the anchor line on deck. Freely coiled anchor line, however, is subject to being uncoiled either by wave action, wind or seas coming over the bow. Thus it is important to be able to provide a secure means for storing anchor line, while at the same time providing that it be quickly removable in cases of emergency or in cases of the usual line handling requirements, such as for docking, or for anchoring.
In the past, opposed hook-like structures have been utilized for the coiling of cord, primarily of electric vacuum cleaner power cords in which the power cords are looped around fixed oppositely directed hooks. In an effort to provide that such electrical cords be easily releasable, systems such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,003,147 and 2,693,001 utilize one fixed hook and the other hook which is slidable in a direction of the fixed hook to permit releasing of the cord. This type of release is not particularly applicable to the boating requirements due to the fact that the line or cord can be caught upon or entangled in the fixed hook.
As illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,290,453; 2,193,989; 1,728,106; and 4,277,035, in order to release cordage or line, the prior hooklike structures are rotated into the center of the loop by pivoting the hooklike structure along a pivot which runs in the plane of the loops and transverse to the longitudinal axis of the loops. As will be seen from these patents, in order to provide such pivoting, complicated pivoting structures are often utilized such that the hooks are in essence folded down into the coiled loop structure. Other U.S. Patents relating to the coiling of electric line include U.S. Pat. Nos. 337,637; 1,365,762; 2,001,588; 2,025,437; 2,536,776; 2,747,812; 3,198,343; 3,477,585; 4,067,526; and 4,354,650.
Of particular interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,430 which provides a quick release cord storage hook, which is a two-tang device such that when it is rotated about a pivot vertical to the loop axis, a second hook engages a portion of the looped cord. Thus while some of the strands or loop of the cord are released, others are not. This type of apparatus is clearly ill-advised for use aboard boats, be they sailing vessels or motor vessels, due to the clamping of part of the coiled line when the hook is in the release position.
Moreover, none of the above U.S. patents shows the utilization of two rotatable or moveable hooks for coiled line storage. This is important in the field of boating and sailing because any impediment to the release of the line can result in disastrous consequences. Thus, while quick release coiled devices have been utilized specifically for electrical appliances including vacuum cleaners, their utilization in the marine environment is not only ill-advised but hazardous to the extent that they do not permit unfettered uncoiling of the line.